Beyond the Sun
by LullabySounds
Summary: There is a tale...of a stone, with a natural hole in it, dry but found near the Fountain of Grim, that has the ability to grant it's beholder all she/he desires. But only someone with a pure soul may touch this stone. Beware those who seek it. AU Naruhina
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I have always wanted to write a fantasy. You know, wizards and dragons. And after reading so many magical fan fictions I decided I might as well try and do my own! The only thing not completely from my mind is the poem. R&R, if you will.

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_**Chapter One**_

_What has been hidden will rise up again;_

_Beware those who seek it for their own gain._

_Though the power of Demons and Sorcerers are strong,_

_A pure one will find it, One who seeks no wrong._

_The blood of a maiden must surely be spilled,_

_For the source of its Evil to truly be killed;_

_Lest words of nightmare and terror be spoken,_

_And the wall between Hell and Earth shall be broken._

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As the puffy, gray clouds rolled in from the south, tiny raindrops fell from above, one of the specks of water landing on the young woman's nose. Blinking once, then twice, she looked towards the sky from her comfortable spot beside the old oak tree, only then realizing the storm that threatened to come. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be showered by nature's sorrow as the rain fell heavily to the earth.

She smiled, pink lips stretching across her pale, smooth skin.

Oh, how she enjoyed the rainy season, showing that April had finally arrived. Soon, it would lead to summer, then autumn, and last of all, winter. but, alas, the cycle would not end there, but forever go on. Always changing, never to pause, or stop completely.

That is what she loved most. That is why she believed nature to be all powerful, for how it only applied to the rules that it had created, and never to listen to anyone else's. How it could be sad and gloomy one day, and sunny the next. Or the way it's most fierce winds could blow away trees of enormous proportion, to being the most delicate of breezes that gently cool you in the heat. Yes, it would seem as if nature was almost perfect, unlike so many other things, including her. This thought made her frown. All of her imperfections flooded her mind.

Why did she have to always be so shy, no matter what the case being? Or her ever so annoying habit of fidgeting with her fingers, and never being able to say a complete sentence without stuttering once. She was also tall for her age; at least it appeared so to herself.

She stood at 5'7, with curves accustoming every part of her body. From her petite waist, to her legs and small feet, which now were bare so she could feel the cushiony grass below. She had a round gentle face, with high cheek bones and was always glowing with a blush. Her eyes, a soft lavender shade, always looking downwards, rarely meeting others' eyes. She had long, beautiful raven-colored hair, that went just passed her mid-back.

Her outfit at the moment consisted of a white top, that seemed a bit too big for her, with long sleeves that could be buttoned or unbuttoned at the cuff. She wore black shorts, that had once been a pair of pants. But the weather would soon grow hot, so she cut them, only three inches above the knee. She was, after all, modest. A pair of slip-on shoes were deep within her bag, along with an extra shirt, some coins, and a few dried herbs and berries.

She had always found herself interested and amazed in the practice of magical herbalism and using the Earth to heal. She spent her spare time reading whatever she could find on it, and not long after she could walk through a forest and easily recognize a plant and you of all its medicinal or spiritual capabilities. Some would consider her a witch, but she herself took the title of Healer.

If only she had this ability when she was younger. She remembered her Mother had fallen ill, and having to leave her and travel north to find a sorcerer who could create a cure….She never returned, and years went by before all hope was finally lost.

So she left her home on her eighteenth birthday, bringing only what she needed. She decided that she would start her journey West, to Armaguech. There were many tales of this country. Not all of them good. But she knew that she had to start somewhere.

She went back to reality and realized that the rain had gotten heavier, and knew that she would have to find shelter somewhere. Standing up, she quickly grabbed her bag, and ran for cover under the canopy of the forest. Her eyes bounced from place to place until she finally spotted what seemed to be a cave. Smiling inwardly she squeezed through its small opening.

Sitting down to catch her breath, the young woman decided to examine her surroundings. She was surprised to see that the cave was bigger than it seemed. But what caught her eye, was what seemed like floating orbs of light drifting around, lighting up the dark place. She crawled quietly to get a closer look at what they were.

Finding one that was lingering more to the ground, her eyes widened with amazement to see that it was not an orb of light, but instead a small being, similar to a human, only it had long silver hair, and yellow bug like eyes. A glow surrounded its entire body, and it wore what seemed to be a makeshift of white daisy petals wrapped around its delicate figure. The creature could have been no bigger than a thumb.

The girl sat still, transfixed by it, but the almost dreamlike state was broken when the creature spotted her, and its glow went black. It bared its tiny sharp teeth and let out a deafening sound from its mouth. All the other orbs turned dark at the alarm and joined in when they too spotted the girl. Her hands flew to cover her ears but it did nothing to block out the screams.

"P-please, s-stop!" She shouted. But they seemed to just grow angrier.

Her eyes squeezed close and she blindly got up and ran in a random direction to escape from their screeching. She fell to the ground when her forehead collided with the wall of the damp cave. Blood dribbled down her temple as she slowly began to lose consciousness.

Before she fell completely to the world of dreams, she felt as if she was being lifted, and the noise of the screaming creatures grew silent….

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"Don't leave me…." The pale girl mumbled quietly to herself, as she snuggled closer to the muscular chest that she was now accompanied by.

He chuckled, and said jokingly, "I would never do a thing like that. Especially since I haven't gotten to do anything _fun _with you yet."

This reply left the eighteen year-old girl slightly confused, as she didn't understand what the voice had meant by fun…But the confusion only lasted a moment. Her eyes flew open, and she screamed so loudly that the man was sure any villages nearby would most likely hear, along with those two big ogres that had been chasing him earlier.

"WHAT!!"

She jumped up to quickly and the top of her head hit his jaw, making him fall back and have his leg trip her so she went to the ground with him. They ended up in a very intimate position, but the girl did not notice as she was gazing into his eyes that were almost hidden beneath his blonde bangs.

His eyes were strange, for the left one was a dark blue and the right a rich red, both having vertical pupils similar to a feline, and etched into each of his cheeks were three slashes, almost whisker-like.

He raised one eyebrow and said, "Eh? What's wrong?"

She shook slightly as a blush spread across her face, making her put her head down in…shame? He couldn't tell. But what caught him was her scent, for she smelled like lilacs. He decided at that moment that he really liked lilacs.

Putting that thought away, he however _did _notice the position that they were in and took advantage of the opportunity.

"Uh, I know that this isn't the best time to say this, but what you're kneeing into _isn't_ a weapon, and I was kind of hoping to be able to use it in the near future, if you know what I mean." He was amazed a person could turn such a dark shade of maroon.

"S-sorry!" She got up in a flash and moved at least twenty feet away from him behind a tree that's flowers were just beginning to bloom.

Standing up and dusting himself off, he looked towards her questionably. "Well your a weird one, aren't ya?"

The girl couldn't stop blushing from behind the tree, because she had never really been around a person of the opposite gender before, especially one who was wearing nothing but a pair of dirty orange pants and a black sash tied around his waist, showing of his muscular chest and slight six-pack. He wore no shoes, and had a a greenish stone on a leather string hanging around his neck. She wondered if it meant something to him.

"You know, you really set off those Howlers back there."

"H-Howlers?"

"Yea." He smiled, and walked over to her. She looked away from him and he wondered if she found him ugly. "It's pretty obvious why they call them that. Damned things could make someone go deaf." When she didn't say anything, he frowned. "Tch, you're too quiet."

Just when he was about to reach his arm out to make her face him she fell and he immediately caught her. "Hey! Are you alright?!" His eyes shifted and he noticed that she was bleeding. "Damn it."

He looked around for the bag that he had found with her, and setting her gently on the ground went and got it. He searched around in the bag and found a small cylinder box.

Sniffing it, he raised an eyebrow and opened it's top. Inside was a mint-colored ointment. '_Definitely smells like medicine...' _He ran back over to the wounded girl, took some of the paste and rubbed it on the hurt area. He watched in amazement as it healed almost as quickly as he could.

"O-Ow.." She winced when it healed, and rubbed her head. Blinking a few times she looked towards him and muttered, "Thank y-you."

"No problem..." He seemed to be examining her, and then remembered what it was he wanted to ask. "So where are you heading to anyway?" She thought about it for a few minutes, and them gave him an answer.

"W-West...I'm going to the w-wind country."

"Hm? You mean Armaguech?" She nodded. He squinted at her and then said, "Then what the hell are you doing in the Forest of Seasons? You do know that you're heading south, right?"

Her mouth gaped open. "What?!" He let out a sigh.

"Well, since you obviously have no idea where you are going, and since I happen to be going to Armaguech for...reasons untold, " His grin stretched across his face, "I'm going to take you there myself!" '_And maybe her pretty face could get us some free food on the way there too!' _He added, but didn't dare say it aloud.

"T-together?" He nodded vigurously. "I...guess that c-could work...But promise me you're not g-going to try anything." He let out a nervous laugh.

"Hehe, of course!" He got up from his crouched position and stretched out his arms. "Well, time to go! It's going to hale soon."

"Hale? But it's spring." He wagged a finger.

"This is the Forest of Seasons. The weather changes quickly here. Nature works in mysterious ways." Shrugging, he walked away for a moment and came back with her bag. "I found that ointment in here!" He handed the bag to her.

"What ointment?" She asked him, confused. He scratched his head, and looked around for the small container.

"Um, I guess I lost it."

What the blonde man didn't know, was that the girl hadn't packed an ointment of any kind, and that they would never find it again, for it had, in fact, been stolen.

Looking through her bag and making sure everything was there, she slung it over her head and made sure it was tight and secure so she wouldn't lose it.

"So, my new traveling buddy, what's your name?"

"H-Hinata."

Hm..." He seemed to be thinking hard about something. "...seems innocent enough. My name's Naruto!"

"O-okay, Naruto." She smiled softly, and for a moment the blonde thought he was going to blush. Shaking his head, he turned around and crouched a little.

"Well, get on!"

Hinata's face turned red and she froze. "Huh?!"

"Tch, we'll travel a lot quicker if I carry you, since I can run way faster than you can. Plus, I want to make it there within a week. And face it, if we walk, it'll take us half a month to reach the wind country." Naruto explained to her.

Hinata though about it a moment, and then deciding he was right slowly climbed onto his back. "I guess that's true..."

"Great! Now hold on tight, got it?"

When he felt her tighten hert arms around his neck, he took off through the trees so fast that Hinata almost let go. "Haha, I told you to hold on!" He bounced from tree to tree and even did a few flips but stopped when Hinata hit him across the head. "Fiesty, aren't we?"

She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to forget about her fear of heights. "H-How much longer did you say?"

He twisted his face in thought and then replied, "At this rate, probably three days. But we're gonna have to stop at some time and rest, so I guess a week at the most."

"O-okay. Oh, why are you going to Armaguech, by the w-way?" Hinata jerked forward when he suddenly stopped, and swore she got whiplash. "What's wrong?"

When he didn't answer her, Hinata grew worried. "Naruto?" He looked back at her with a frown.

"You know, I kind of forgot exactly why I was going." He kept on moving from branch to branch. "I guess it because I'm looking for something."

"What is it?" Hinata asked, curious as to what it was he was looking for.

"Nothing you need to worry about. It's probably just a myth, anyway."

Even after Naruto told Hinata that, she still couldn't help but wonder...She promised silently to herself that she would find out.

After all, if something is just myth, then why would anyone bother to go to such an extent to find it?

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I hope for this story to become epic. Except a lot of twisits and turns, and some romance in the middle. I'm pretty much allowing my mind to run wild. Yay for that.

Disclaimer: I'm not even old enough to drive a car, let alone own Naruto.

_**Chapter 2: The Truth and Death of a Village**_

She was like honey, sweet and golden. Her face, eyes bright with innocence and curiousity, was the kind that you could never forget. Her pink, full lips were always slightly turned upwards in a small, shy smile. But behind it, behind the soft glow, and the big, wonderous eyes, you could see the truth. A yearning of sorts. A wanting of something that couldn't just be given like her smile. It was a puzzle to him, and he knew the lengths that he would go to just to know what it was that she wanted so dearly.

And at night, when Luna shone big and bright in the sky, you could hear her singing. Such a sad, and lonely song it was. One of love that was never found, and happiness that never came. He pondered on if this was a clue to his puzzle of her that he had created. His inner voice sometimes spoke to him, asking why it was that he even wanted to know. He silenced it, saying how it had no business in the matter.

The song came to his ears once again on the third night of their travels, and just like so many other things about her, he could not forget it. She sung it as if speaking to a lost lover, or even perhaps to anyone willing to listen. The words came out of her mouth flowingly, and had an almost shattering effect like glass. They twisted around your heart, squeezing it of all it's tears, but he had the gift of holding them in. Even so, he still had a hard time from stopping himself from grasping and shaking her small form until she stopped her lullaby. He didn't like the memories it brought back.

He wondered at the time what she was thinking off when she lingered on the last note of the tune a little longer than before. But never once had he gotten the chance to ask where the enchanting song had come from, for each time after she would fall asleep too quickly. It bugged him, but he could never get himself to awaken her. She always looked to peaceful...Too beautiful. He often caught himself staring.

Finally, morning came, and the dew on the leaves sparkled, making the grass wet and uncomfortable. Naruto slowly opened his eyes, and cringed when sunlight burst through. A yawn escaped his lips, and rubbing his head he looked around only to see that Hinata was no longer beside him. '_Where did that woman go?' _He thought to himself.

He pushed against the tree only to jump away when it shook.

_Watch it, _it said to him without a mouth for the words to come out of, and once again grew still and silent. A few of it's leaves fell onto Naruto as he stood there a little mistified.

"Uh, sorry...I guess." He wiped away the leaf, not realizing one was still lodged in his blonde locks. Walking away from his spot, he raised his nose slightly in the air and quickly caught the scent of Hinata, a mixture of herbs and earth from sleeping on the ground. He noticed that it lead to the small creek that they had passed the previous day. Without giving it much thought he followed his nose out of habit and instinct to find his traveling companion.

Hinata, on the other side of the small strip of trees that seperated her and Naruto, was washing herself in the creek's cold, crisp water. Her clothes were neatly folded on a rock not too far away, and a small pile of mint leaves lay on top. She had hoped to make some tea for Naruto before he woke up, as a thank you for helping her to reach her destination. "I hope he likes it strong." She said to herself quietly.

"Depends on what it-..." Naruto was just walking out from under the trees when he caught sight of a naked Hinata, and instantly his eyes were in motion. They followed down her smooth pale back, quickly taking notice of her perfect curves. Her hair had been put up in a bun, so he had full view of her neck, droplets of water scattering it's surface. A sea sponge was in her hand as she scrubbed her skin, the scene giving him goosebumps and making him bristle.

From the way she was humming to herself, you knew she hadn't heard him, even though his heart was beating rapidly. Ever so slowly, his feet made their way towards the girl. His eyes were no longer dismatched, now the same scarlet red, clouded and foggy with some unknown force.

Her scent was so _irresistable..._

"_Naaa nana naaa nana_-hm?" Hinata turned around when she suddenly heard the crunch of rocks beneath feet.

Her eyes scanned the clearing, but when she saw nothing decided to shrugged it off as her imagination. "I should probably get back to Naruto..." She said thoughtfully. She swam towards the rock, and carefully placing the mint leaves on the ground as she got out of the chilly waters to put on her sun-warmed clothing. As she was done getting dressed and picking up the mint leaves, a sudden realization hit her.

"How am I going to brew a tea without a pot?"

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"What took ya so long?" Naruto was sitting up in a tree with one leg hanging off it's large branch, arms folded in slight irritation. "I wake up and find ya gone, and the first thing I can think of is that you got eaten by something!"

Hinata blushed at his care for her, but instead of answering went over to her bag and dug through it, pulling out a small pouch. "I was g-going to make tea, but we don't have a k-kettle. I guess we can have some of these..."

Hinata held in a giggle when she heard his stomach rumble. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, hopping down from the tree, just missing a swipe of a branch. He landed roughly on the ground, and turned around to glare at the Cranky Willow.

"Don't go and get mad at me!"

It let out what could have been a moan or a grumble, or maybe even both. Naruto 'hmphed' and turned his back on the tree, putting his attention back on Hinata.

"Geez, so what's in the pouch?" Hinata handed it to him, and Naruto pulled it open to see that it was full of some type of dried fruit.

"I-It's sugar-coated apricots. My mom taught me how to make them a long time ago... A-Are you going to try it?"

Naruto contemplated on whether or not he should trust the sweet treats, and then deciding that he had almost been killed in worst ways than this, picked one out and popped it into his mouth. He was overcome with delight.

"And to think that I hated this kind of stuff!" He took the small bag and poured it's contents into his mouth. Hinata couldn't help herself and giggled at his childish antics. 'So," He said inbetween bites, "What happened to the mint leaves from earlier?" Hinata tilted her head questionably.

"How did you know I had mint leaves?" He instantly froze.

Naruto froze."I...I could smell it on you, from when you came back from the creek-" His eyes widened when he remembered that he wasn't suppose to know that. Hinata furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and she asked another question that he dreaded.

"What? How did you know that I was at the c-creek? And what do you mean you could..._smell _it?"

Naruto straightened out his back and smiled. "I think it's time we get movin, don't you? We don't have time for meaningless conversations." He went to grab her arm, but Hinata backed away.

"D-Don't do that! Tell me what you ment."

He acted as if she hadn't just refused his touch. Walking over he picked up her bag, swinging it over his shoulder. He turned back to her, still smiling as if she wasn't arguing with him. "We're gonna be late if we don't start on the road again. Come on, don't you still want to go to the wind country? I thought that was why I offered to bring you."

Hinata shook her head, and gave Naruto an hard stare. "W-Why are you not listening to me? I asked you a question! And why does it e-even matter if we're a little late--"

"Quit asking so many goddamn questions and move!" Hinata let out a soft gasp and looked away. Naruto could see that he had hurt her. Pressing his palms to his eyes, he took a deep breath, exhaling softly.

"Listen, I'm sor-"

"N-No...it's okay." He glanced up, surprised. Although she still seemed hurt by what he had said, she faced him, eye to eye, and smiled. "It wasn't any of my business anyway. F-forgive me." Hinata bowed her head, but raised it when she heard his voice.

"...It's a stone..."

"What?"

"What I'm looking for...is a stone."

Hinata was confused. "J-Just a stone? I...I don't understand."

Naruto closed his eyes, and recited his old teacher's words. " '_A stone, with a natural hole through it, dry but found near the Fountain of Grim, contains the power to grant it's beholder whatever he desires.'_ That's what he told me four years ago. And since then, I've been traveling everywhere, soaking up whatever I could on this so called powerful rock. And so far, nothing...until a month ago."

He picked up the necklace around his neck, staring at it intently. "I made a bet with someone, that if I could catch this necklace before it fell all the way down a mountain, then they would tell me all they knew about the Grim's stone. Well, as you can guess, I did. I caught it. But...Eh, I broke a leg too." He scratched his head, grinning at the memory.

"She was surprised, and so in return for my effort, she told me what she knew. That if I ever wanted to find what I was looking for, go to the Wind country...Armaguech. I guess she forgot to ask for the necklace back." That was a lie, for he himself was the one that forgot to give it back to her. But no use mentioning that.

"Why...do you want it anyway?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, and gave Hinata a wierd look. After staring for a few seconds, he figured it was ment as an innocent question. So he gave her an innocent answer.

"I guess...it's for my own selfish reasons."

Hinata knew that she wouldn't get an answer that easily. After a few silent moments of thought, she tucked some of her long bangs behind her ear and gave another small smile. "Y...You're right, I thinks it's time we get moving." He grinned, noticing how contagious her smile was. Slipping onto his back, Hinata slid her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, opening them suddenly when she remembered one last question.

"Naruto?"

"Yea."

"Th-that teacher you talked about e-earlier, the one who told you of the stone, who was he?"

Naruto's feet left the ground as he bounced through the branches of the trees, jumping out of the forest into a large field, the grass brushing his and Hinata's skin.

"My teacher?" He chuckled, "Eh, just a very wise, very perverted old man."

"P-perverted?"

"You don't know what that means?" He felt her shake her head, as a few strands of her hair grazed his cheek. "...good."

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Death. That is all they could smell as the entered a tiny village located on the border of wind country. They had been told there was a small town that would probably allow them a free night at one of their cottages. What they didn't expect was broken houses, fallen trees, and the stench of blood that covered the ground. Scattered everywhere were the bodies of humans...mothers holding their children in the last moments of life.

Gruesome...horrific...But for him, that tiny part of his soul that he locked away deep in the recesses of his mind, the part that he wished never to meet again, got some sick type of pleasure from the nightmarish scene. For just a moment, the _urges _that he wished not to have came back, as they did with her. But thankfully, from years of control and meditation, he kept them locked up. For how long, he asked himself. How long until they would slip away from his grasp, and take over his mind and soul? He didn;t think about again for a long time.

"Who could have done s-such an awful thing to all these people?" Hinata asked him with a whisper.

"Who?" Naruto chuckled darkly. "A monster, or demon. Things that don't deserve to live, Hinata."

She frowned sadly, and tears fell down her pale cheeks. "I-It's so..." She covered her mouth the way she did when she felt her soul try to escape her body in moments of sorrow.

Naruto looked at her, and knew that if she got worked up over this, she could never handle what he had done in his past. "We should go..."

Hinata stood there in shock as she watched him walk away from the horrid sight. "W-What?! Waht do you mean go?! Are you going to d-do anything! We c-can't just leave! We have to help them..."

"...They're dead, Hinata. What do you want to do? Bury them? Put some flowers on a pile of bodies? What good will that do? The bodies are just going to rot away no matter what way you-"

"It's better than nothing."

He gave her a hard stare, pursing his lips then letting out a sigh. "Okay."

It took them the rest of the day, but at the end, as the sun began to set and the sky turned pink and yellow, every person that they could find, every mother that held a child, lay in the ground becoming one with the Earth and at peace. And every grave, big and small, had one flower to lay on it's surface.

Hinata looked down at the blood on her hands, and then looked at Naruto and said, "Did you notice, th-that every body had some type of symbol engraved on their back?"

"What?!" Naruto was stunned. Grabbing the last body, which was a redheaded man, and sure enough, on his dead back, was a circle with two smaller circles entwined in the center. He instantly recognized the marking. "Hinata...a spell was cast on these people."

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows. "Spell? What kind of spell?"

Naruto was hard in thought. "I can't really explain it, but it makes the victim attack it's family and friends... to be able to do it at this large of a scale...only a very powerful magician could have done this."

"Magician? But...I thought they did not believe in harming others..."

"Not all people in the world follow that rule...There are things out there that kill people for mere pleasure and-" He stopped quickly. Hinata did not notice. "And...and if whatever it was is heading this way, than they are going to the same destination as we are..."

"Armaguech..."

Naruto stood up. "We have to move quickly."

Of course, what they didn't know, was that the person responsible for the deaths, was already far ahead of them.

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A/N: I know, the ending was a little rushed, but we had a hurricane just pass through and I had to hurry and finish this chapter. Please review, its the only thing that keeps me going.


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